


Neighbors

by TaraTyler



Series: Swan Queen [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), SwanQueen - Fandom
Genre: F/F, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 21:31:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16773298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraTyler/pseuds/TaraTyler
Summary: Emma ends up at Granny's after a long drive and really just wants to sleep





	Neighbors

Emma stepped into her room at Granny’s for the night, locked the door and collapsed face down on the bed, completely exhausted. She was pretty sure she could have fallen asleep in mere moments if she had only closed her eyes. Instead, Emma took an exhausted glance around and took note of the door she assumed connected the room to the one next to it. She hadn’t been warned that her room was conjoined with another. Emma pulled herself to her feet with a groan and dragged her body over to lock the door. She pushed to secure the latch, and abruptly fell through the threshold, the door’s lock clearly broken.

“Fuck! Shit! Balls!” Ema yelled, barely managing to regain her footing. When she looked up again, she was met with wide brown eyes, floppy dark hair, and a curious face that was about level with her belly button. “Oh my God, I am so sorry, little buddy. Please forget everything just said and never repeat it.”

The boy turned to look at the woman Emma presumed to be his mother. “Mama, what does ‘shit’ mean?” he asked and Emma suddenly wanted to sink through a hole in the floor and disappear. Guilt washed over her like cold water.

Luckily for Emma, the other woman began to laugh. The sound was rough, as though this raven-haired woman didn’t laugh often. Emma had no proof of this, but when the thought struck her, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling. Emma poked her head into the room. The boys’ mother was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed, her long legs strong beneath a smart business suit and a pencil skirt. She was absolutely stunning and Emma was taken aback.

“Not today, Henry. We’ll discuss it later on.” the woman told her son. Her grin was wide and welcoming. “Come on in, if you like. Since we will be neighbors we might as well introduce ourselves.” she offered.

Emma stepped in awkwardly, leaning against the doorframe as casually as she could. She shoved her hands in her pockets to keep from fidgeting. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to meet this woman, because she most definitely did; her anxiety mostly came from a complete lack of knowledge of how to handle a situation such as this one. Emma had next ot no previous experience with children of any age or variety and this woman was a particular brand of beautiful that left her feeling rather intimidated. Her heart stopped completely in her chest. Dark eyes bored directly into her own.

“Oh, um, yeah hi! I’m Emma Swan. I’m in town for an interview with the mayor to be sheriff. Apparently no one who actually lives here is qualified and she was considering appointing me.” Emma found herself saying. She hoped she came across more cool and collected than she actually felt. Her nerves seemed to have taken her over completely.

A emotion Emma couldn’t identify crossed the woman’s face. “I’m Regina and this is my son, Henry. We’re staying here while our home is being fumigated. Kind of like a staycation we decided.” She ruffled Henry’s hair and he cringed.

“Do you like dinosaurs, Emma? I’m really into dinosaurs right now,” he informed her as he pulled a dino book out to show her. Emma was pretty amazed, if only because the book was about the same size as the little boy. She suppressed a grin before looking up to meet Regina’s eyes; thoroughly amused by this conversation.

“Yeah, dinosaurs are really cool.” Emma agreed. Henry couldn’t be any more than six years old and couldn’t any more adorable. She perused the book along with him for a moment, allowing him to tell her about each of the different creatures and enjoying his enthusiasm.

Emma got lost in the moment as she went through the book with the boy until a knock came at the door. “Mayor Mills, there’s a call for you downstairs.” Granny said from outside of the hotel room. Emma immediately sprang to attention at the information that she had been ‘hanging out’ with her potential boss.

“Uhm, do you mind? I need to step out and take this.” Regina said hesitantly. She was wary to leave Henry but she felt as though she could trust Emma already.

“Go ahead, we’ll be fine.” Emma encouraged her, enjoying allowing Henry to just chat her ear off for a while. Her tired brain thought this was amazing and she retained not one bit of the information. Henry was super cute anyway. “Won’t we, buddy?” she asked looking down at him. He nodded happily and enthusiastically.

Emma was surprised by how long Regina was gone. She had been exhausted when she got there, and Henry was tired enough that he had fallen asleep mid-paragraph while ‘reading’ to her. It wasn’t very long until Emma nodded off after him, his warm side pressed alongside of her own, and the weight of him quite comforting.

When Regina got back, she decided right off the bat she ought to hire this woman. One strong arm was propping up Henry’s head, protectively around him, Emma’s own head at an awkward and painful looking angle. The dinosaur book was still open across their laps. Regina was struck by the scene and how natural it all locked. She almost didn’t want to disturb Emma, but it looked as though the other woman would be sore the next morning if left as she was.

Regina gently shook Emma’s shoulder. “Ms.Swan, you have a big morning tomorrow. We really should both be going on to bed now.” She woke the other woman up gently. Bleary eyes met her own and Regina felt affection rush through her quickly.

Emma slowly and carefully extracted her arm from beneath Henry with a quiet yawn. “I feel like I keep having to apologize to you. Wow, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in on your staycation and fall asleep on the job.” Emma’s cheeks flushed bright pink with embarrassment.

“No, not at all. Thank you for staying with him. I’ll meet you at my office bright and early tomorrow.” Regina felt as though she were the awkward one then. With another whispered goodnight, the two parted ways until their appointment the next morning.


End file.
